Uplifting news: Two towers, two tower cranes at The Lincoln Common

Posted on August 5, 2017 by danieldschell

Caisson work at The Lincoln Common will include foundations for TWO tower cranes.

Friday was a busy day for important permits in Chicago.

You read in our August tower crane update that The Lincoln Common would soon be on the board with a tower crane for one of the two 20-story, 269-unit apartment towers going up on the site. Well, the City of Chicago just doubled down on that wager, permitting a second tower crane for the site.

We’ll need to work out some names for these. For now, the city’s permits dub them “East” and “West.” But since they’re in position to build the north and south (2335 and 2345 North Lincoln Ave) towers, we may need to use “North” and South” for them. Or, perhaps the cranes will share duties on each tower, as opposed to being dedicated to one single building. Minor details. East Crane and West Crane will suffice for now.

This means W.E. O’Neil will not only get on the board; they’ll storm it. And their two tower cranes will make up for the recent losses at Elevate Lincoln Park and the DePaul School of Music. And don’t forget, we could get a crane across the street when the Belmont Village senior-living facility gets rolling. Tower cranes galore for Lincoln Park.

East Crane

West Crane

Caisson work is at full bore for The Lincoln Common

Posted on July 26, 2017 by danieldschell

Revcon is in, and in deep, as caisson work revs up at The Lincoln Common.

Here’s a ridiculous overhead view from Curtis Waltz at Aerialscapes.

The noisy red machines of Revcon are tearing into the soil at The Lincoln Common, the mixed-use development coming to the former Children’s Memorial Hospital site in Lincoln Park. Foundation permits were issued back in June, allowing general contractor W.E. O’Neil to get started on the project.

“Foundation permits, plural?” you might ask? Yep. The Lincoln Common seems to have a theme of pairs:

There will be two towers, addressed for now as 2335 and 2345 North Lincoln Avenue, each standing 20 stories tall and containing 269 apartments. (There will be some condos too, plus a senior-living facility across the street.)
There are two developers: Hines, and McCaffery Interests
There are two architecture firms involved in the design work: Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, and Antunovich Associates.
There are two red Revcon caisson rigs and two caisson cranes working on the site
I went through two bottles of Gatorade while watching caisson work in the oppressive heat (how do crews stay out there all day in this weather?)

You get the idea.

There was *one* tower-crane permit issued on July 17; will there be a second tower crane for the second tower? We’ll have to wait and see about that prospective pair.

The Lincoln Common scores a permit

Posted on June 15, 2017 by danieldschell

The farmland that used to be Children’s Memorial Hospital will soon be transformed into the Lincoln Common.

The Lincoln Common project is ready to roll onto the site formerly occupied by Children’s Memorial Hospital in Lincoln Park.

The first permit, issued Wednesday, calls for a 20-story mixed-use tower, with 269 dwelling units and ZERO parking spaces. A collaboration between Hines and McCaffery Interests, The Lincoln Common also combines the talents of two design firms: Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, and Antunovich Associates. W.E. O’Neil will be the general contractor.

A rendering of The Lincoln Common from Antunovich Associates.

The foundation permit.

Will that ugly parking garage go too?

Sterling Bay’s C.H. Robinson HQ taking shape at 1515 West Webster

Posted on March 22, 2017 by danieldschell

At left, 1515 West Webster. In the foreground, the Chicago River. In the background, that magnificent Chicago Skyline.

Construction progress has already reached the third dimension at Sterling Bay‘s development at 1515 West Webster Avenue on the western edge of Lincoln Park. The four-story, 207,000-square-foot facility will be the new headquarters of third-party logistics juggernaut C.H. Robinson. Designed by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, Sterling Bay expects to have the new office digs open in mid-2018. For now, that’s up to Power Construction, who look to be making good headway toward that goal.

: Rendering of 1515 West Webster from Skidmore, Owings & Merrill.

: Rendering of 1515 West Webster from Skidmore, Owings & Merrill.

: The south — or “boring” — end of the site.

Old Children’s Memorial Hospital Demolition Begins in Lincoln Park

Posted on June 7, 2016 by danieldschell

Demolition of the old Children’s Memorial Hospital in Lincoln Park began at 8:00 am on June 7.

Empty and deteriorating for the past four years, workers this morning began the slow, tedious process of demolishing the old Children’s Memorial Hospital in Lincoln Park, just one day after a demolition permit was filed by the City of Chicago.

With a fleet of news vans and a few bystanders watching, some whose kids had gone through extensive stays under Children’s care, crews from Omega Demolition in Elgin started tearing apart the lower portions of the hospital complex along North Lincoln Avenue. Once they get the shorter buildings down and out of the way, they’ll have considerable more room to stage equipment for the seven-story portions of the hospital.

In its place will be The Lincoln Common, a venture from Hines and McCaffery Interests. Planned are two luxury apartment towers boasting 540 dwelling units, 60 low-rise condos, and over 100,000 square feet of retail space, designed by Antunovich Associates in collaboration with Skidmore, Owings & Merrill. You can learn more about the project here on the Hines website.